Over the years, most states and districts have focused professional development on teachers rather than principals. However, evidence suggests that principals can play an important role in reaching our national goals of high achievement for all students. School leaders are powerful levers for change--when given the right training and support. But…

The role of the public school principal has expanded dramatically in recent decades. The expanded role means they are now significant multipliers of effective teaching and have a real opportunity to affect student achievement. Most states have spent recent years working to improve teacher effectiveness, recognizing its importance in improving…

Since 2004, the National Institute for School Leadership (NISL) has offered the Executive Development Program (EDP), a leadership program for sitting school principals that is typically delivered in two-day workshops once per month over 12 months. From its inception through 2018, 15,000 principals across 23 states have participated in the EDP.…

This research examines how public school principals in Kentucky perceive their new teacher evaluation system and the proficiency exam they must take and pass in order to evaluate their staff. An online survey was developed and 308 out of an estimated 1,100 working school principals across Kentucky responded, yielding a response rate of 28%.…

The field of school-leadership preparation has recently been making a concerted effort to embed social justice issues into the curriculum experiences of aspiring principals. Although much of this effort has focused on the academic achievement among students who are poor, nonnative speakers of English, or non-White, very little attention has been…

The continuous poor performance of South Africa's learners is detrimental to its developing economy. The need for education change prompted two universities to initiate a system-wide change strategy in a poorly performing school district. The leverage for change was leadership development, involving school principals and district officials. The…

Decades of research find that effective school leadership and access to high-quality early education are two of the most important determinants of educational outcomes. School principals affect both teacher and student performance and play an important role in turning around troubled schools. High-quality education, from prekindergarten (pre-K)…

Billionaire businessman Eli Broad, one of the country's most active philanthropists, founded the Broad Superintendents Academy in 2002 with an extraordinarily optimistic goal: Find leaders from both inside and outside education, train them, and have them occupying the superintendencies in a third of the 75 largest school districts--in just two…

Teachers have the greatest school-based effect on the achievement of any child in their classrooms, but highly effective principals can positively affect the achievement of every student in their schools. The difference between a highly effective principal and an average one is equal to two-to-seven months of extra learning per year for each child…

Buttressed by strong evidence that quality leadership is a virtual necessity for turning around troubled schools, states and districts around the country have been paying more attention in recent years to the need for better school leadership. Many have adopted a range of new policies and practices aimed at dramatically improving the preparation…

Leadership succession planning is a means to identify the need for systematic and purposeful change in education. Policy, planning, and research suggest that there is an acute shortage of school leaders globally. By illumination of these facts, we detail and describe what is happening within a Canadian context, and this we argue is similar to what…

Succession planning has become increasingly important because of the shortage of headship applicants in England, and in many other countries. Leadership development is a central part of any succession planning strategy. This article compares the findings from two longitudinal studies, in England and South Africa, where the governments are seeking…

Great leaders make great schools. The most successful school leaders create a school climate of high achievement and continuous improvement, give teachers a voice in decision-making, use data to drive curriculum and instruction, and assure students and parents that everyone at the school is focusing on student success. They know what is going on…

The School Administration Manager (SAM) project, supported by The Wallace Foundation as part of its education initiative, focuses on changing the conditions in schools that prevent principals from devoting more time to instructional leadership. In schools participating in the National SAM Project, principals have made a commitment to increase the…

The "Report to the Legislature: School Leadership Academies Training Initiative" is submitted pursuant to Chapter 61 of the Acts of 2007, line item 7061-941. In FY 08, the legislature appropriated $1 million to support the second year of a program to develop and implement School Leadership Academies for principals and superintendents to…